Integrating nGEN: What Are the Best Event Triggers?

Posted by , 15th April 2014

We’re continuing our ‘Under the hood of nGen’ blog series. Today we take a look at what are the best event triggers for your app.

Our new nGen Platform is designed to deepen user engagement and increase developer revenue by delivering the right engagement to the right user at precisely the right moment. It’s a revolutionary way of serving rewarded ads within mobile apps, and the early feedback we’ve received has been extremely encouraging.

We now want to take a deeper dive into what we mean by the “right moment,” because this is such a critical factor in determining the results developers will receive from nGen. But the first question that must be asked is when, exactly, is the right moment to serve an engagement?

The short answer is that there is no one-size-fits all approach, but rather myriad ways that nGen can help developers serve contextually relevant ads during opportune moments. We’ll explore some of these below.

Achievement Moment

A great time to reward users with an offer to earn more virtual currency is immediately after a user completes a level, earns a high score, or accomplishes some other achievement. These moments are very common in gaming apps, but can be found in other types of apps as well, such as in a run-tracking app after a user completes a jog, or in a photography app after they’ve snapped their 100th photo.

Failure Moment
If a user has failed a level, lost a game, or come out on the wrong end of a Player-versus-Player battle, that is the perfect time to serve a message that says something along the lines of, “Increase your chances next time with a [boost/power-up/upgrade/etc.].”

Locked Content
After a user tries to access content that is “locked”—in that it is only available for paid subscribers or via in-app payment—the developer can offer them the chance to earn the content for free by watching videos or completing other offers through the Tapjoy Marketplace.

IAP Abandonment
If a user abandons an in-app purchase, there’s still a way for developers to save the transaction. They can try serving a message that says something along the lines of “Don’t want to spend the money? Earn Coins for free through Tapjoy.”

Natural Pause

Whenever there’s a natural pause within an app—such as in between levels, after a certain activity has been completed, or when a user visits the main menu—developers can serve basically any kind of rewarded ad or message they’d like. The break in the action makes it a perfect time to serve a full screen interstitial without interrupting the user experience.

Out of Currency
For gaming and other types of apps that utilize virtual currency, any time a user runs out of currency is a great time to remind them they can earn more of it by completing rewarded ad engagements. Developers should try serving a message that says something like “It looks like you’re out of points,” with a call to action urging them to engage in ads to earn more.

We want to hear from you. Let us know what events you’re using to trigger ads or messages in your app.